Making Tax Digital exemptions: age, digital exclusion, religion, and how to apply

By Patrick Roper ACA, ICAEW chartered accountant. Last reviewed 6 November 2026. Figures next checked by 6 February 2027.

Some people are exempt from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax without applying, including anyone whose qualifying income is £20,000 or less. Everyone else has to apply, and the main ground is digital exclusion: your age, health condition or disability stops you using a computer, tablet or smartphone, your religious beliefs are incompatible with digital records, or you cannot get internet access where you live or work. You apply by phone or letter to HMRC's Self Assessment general enquiries, and HMRC says it aims to respond within 28 calendar days.

Who is exempt without applying

HMRC gives some exemptions automatically, from the information it already holds. You do not contact HMRC or send an application for these. If you are exempt you carry on reporting your income in a Self Assessment tax return as normal.

• Qualifying income of £20,000 or less. That is gross rent plus gross self-employed income.
• No National Insurance number before the start of the tax year.
• Returns you send for someone else: a trustee sending a trust return, a non-resident company return, or a personal representative of someone who has died. Your own rent or self-employed income is tested separately.
• Partnerships. They do not yet need to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. HMRC says it will set out a timeline later.
• If your 2024/25 return showed that you are not physically or mentally capable of providing information to HMRC and you have a power of attorney, or a legally appointed deputy, controller or guardian, in place.
• If your 2024/25 return included the ministers of religion page, the Lloyd's underwriters page, Married Couple's Allowance (for those born before 6 April 1935) or Blind Person's Allowance. HMRC says these groups will need to use Making Tax Digital in the future, on a timeline it has not yet set.

If one of those claims or pages was missing from your 2024/25 return and you reasonably expect it on your 2025/26 or 2026/27 return, the exemption is not automatic. You apply.

GOV.UK also lists exemptions that last only until April 2027: averaging relief, qualifying care relief, income from trusts or estates reported on the SA107 page, and the residence page SA109. The Budget of 28 October 2026 changed part of that. It said the government will exempt three groups "until further notice": those eligible for qualifying care relief, non-UK resident foreign entertainers and sportspeople, and people expected to be non-resident. The law for this is due before April 2027. When this page was checked on 6 November 2026, HMRC's exemption guidance had last been updated on 28 May 2026 and did not yet show the change.

Who can apply: digital exclusion

You can apply if it is not reasonable for you to use compatible software to keep digital records, send quarterly updates or submit your tax return. HMRC calls this being digitally excluded and gives three examples:

• Your age, health condition or disability stops you from using a computer, tablet or smartphone to keep digital records or submit them to HMRC.
• You are a practising member of a religious society or order whose beliefs are incompatible with using digital communications or keeping digital records, and you do not use a computer, tablet or smartphone for business or personal use.
• You cannot get internet access at your home or business because of your location, and cannot get access at a suitable alternative location.

HMRC says there may be other reasons and that it considers every application case by case. It also lists four reasons it will not accept when they are the only reason given:

• You previously filed a paper return.
• You are unfamiliar with accountancy software.
• You have a small number of digital records to create each tax year.
• It will take extra time or cost for you to sign up and use the service.

Is age alone enough?

GOV.UK does not set an age at which you are exempt. Its wording is that your age, health condition or disability "stops you from using a computer, tablet or smartphone" to keep digital records or submit them. An application that explains what you cannot do, and why, answers the question HMRC is asking. The decision rests on your own circumstances even when an agent, friend or family member applies for you.

One automatic exemption is tied to a birth date: people born before 6 April 1935 whose 2024/25 return showed that they received or transferred Married Couple's Allowance.

How to apply and what HMRC asks for

You apply by calling or writing to HMRC's Self Assessment general enquiries. There is no online form in the guidance. An agent applying for a client uses the Agent Dedicated Line. Someone who has to join on 6 April 2027 can apply now; HMRC says to apply before you need to use the service. Those due to join on 6 April 2028 are asked to apply from summer 2027 onwards.

HMRC asks for:

• Your National Insurance number, name and address.
• Why you think you should be exempt, with any information that supports it.
• How you submit your tax return now, including whether someone helps you.
• Whether you have an agent, such as an accountant, and what the agent will do.
• Any additional needs, so that HMRC can give the right support.

If you write, HMRC asks for a subject title on the letter: the words "Making Tax Digital for Income Tax" followed by "digitally excluded application", or by "exemption application" for any other ground. If more than one exemption applies to you, send one application that explains each. HMRC may ask for more information before it decides.

What happens while HMRC decides

HMRC says it aims to respond within 28 calendar days of receiving the application, and that it may take longer if it needs more from you. It may check the information you gave. It then sends a letter saying whether the application has been accepted and what to do next.

While you wait, HMRC's guidance is to keep your records as you normally do for Self Assessment and to read the steps for signing up, so that you are ready if the answer is no. If you have already signed up and your circumstances have changed, you apply and keep using Making Tax Digital until you hear back.

If HMRC accepts, the letter states the type of exemption and how long it lasts. You keep filing the annual Self Assessment return. HMRC's penalties page says that if you become exempt in 2027/28 you stay under the new penalty rules, which from April 2027 apply to everyone who submits a personal Self Assessment return, with a threshold of two points where it is four inside Making Tax Digital.

If you already have a Making Tax Digital for VAT exemption

It does not carry over by itself. If HMRC previously confirmed that you are exempt from sending VAT returns with compatible software because you are digitally excluded, you contact Self Assessment general enquiries by phone or in writing and give your National Insurance number, your VAT registration number, the reason for the VAT exemption and whether your circumstances have changed. If they have not changed, HMRC says it will confirm that you are also exempt from Making Tax Digital for Income Tax. If they have changed, you make a new application.

A VAT exemption given because of an insolvency procedure is different. GOV.UK says that if you are signed up to Making Tax Digital for Income Tax you are not exempt and should keep using the service. The Budget added that a small number of insolvent people who are not currently able to sign up will not be required to use it.

If HMRC says no

The decision letter explains why and how to appeal. You can appeal up to 30 days after the date on the letter. The appeal is in writing, sent to the address in the decision letter, with a subject title of "Making Tax Digital for Income Tax" followed by "digitally excluded appeal" or "exemption appeal", and any new information you want HMRC to consider. If you need more time to appeal, you call or write to Self Assessment general enquiries.

Until an exemption is confirmed, the start date in your letter stands, so HMRC tells applicants to prepare to sign up in case the application or the appeal is not accepted.

If someone else does the filing

HMRC's guidance points out that an agent who keeps your digital records in compatible software and submits them can meet the requirements for you, and that you may then not need a digital exclusion exemption. That is a choice with a cost attached: an exemption costs nothing and an agent charges a fee. Ours is £399 a year for up to three properties in your own name, with nothing paid until you approve your first quarterly update. If you meet HMRC's test and would rather keep filing one return a year, apply for the exemption.

CIS subcontractors and other sole traders

The exemptions are the same for sole traders as for landlords. A CIS subcontractor whose gross pay in 2025/26 was over £30,000 and who is digitally excluded applies in the same way, by phone or letter, with the same information. A subcontractor who is not exempt starts on 6 April 2027; the CIS page sets out what that involves and what it costs.